Genoa vs Palermo preview - Bovo ready to take on mentor Gasperini

Posted Saturday, October 06, 2012 by PA

Cesare Bovo comes face to face with the man he credits with kick-starting his career on Saturday night as Genoa host Gian Piero Gasperini's Palermo.

The Roman defender first arrived at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in 2007, one year into Gasperini's four-year spell in charge of the Grifone, and the pair soon developed a close personal and professional bond.

Bovo would join the Rosanero for five million euros after one season in Rossoblu colours, his impressive form at the Renzo Barbera earning him a call-up to the Italy squad in 2010.

Now back in Liguria for a second time, Bovo's priority is to engineer a third Genoa win of the Serie A season, but he will certainly make time to catch up with his former mentor.

He told genoacfc.it: "It will be more than just any old game, especially for Mr Gasperini and I.

"He put his faith in me and helped me kick on and I had a great time working with him.

"At the end of that season I signed for Palermo and a new chapter began, one that among other things saw me called up to the national team.

"Palermo don't deserve their current league position. I never thought that they'd only have one point until Sunday.

"They've changed a lot. Fabrizio Miccoli remains an important player for them, he's a classic centre-forward that can be very dangerous."

Miccoli certainly proved his value to the Sicilian outfit by putting three goals past Chievo last weekend as Palermo registered a first win of the season.

Slovenian midfielder Josip Ilicic may have played alongside Bovo at the Renzo Barbera, but he is unwilling to do his former colleague any favours

He told Gazzetta.it: "The Chievo game is in the past, we've stopped thinking about it.

"The important thing was getting three points at home, it was a much-needed boost to pull us out of our depression.

"Now our sole objective is to do well enough against Genoa and to get a win away from home."

Damiano Ferronetti, Marco Rossi and Juan Manuel Vargas are unavailable for Genoa with Milan Milanovic, Franco Brienza and Eran Zahavi sidelined for the visitors.